Level Up Your Finances: 3 Investment Ideas

21/01/2019

Life is full of financial milestones that are worth celebrating. From buying your first home to paying off all of your credit card debt and waving goodbye to your student loan, these milestones are a part of marking our journey into and throughout adulthood.

When you have managed to pay off most of your debt and have been a proud homeowner for a couple of years already, you might be wondering what’s next? Saving up for our retirement is surely great and all that, but it feels a bit sad if this is the only financial goal we have until we’ve reached our golden years.

If you’re looking for a few more ways to step up your financial game and feel like your not just saving but also prospering, you’ve definitely come to the right place. Here is a handful of great ways to spend your money so that they can make you a bit richer – and you might find that there is a lot more to save up for than just your retirement.

It just makes it a bit easier to get through adulthood, little by little, without having to keep your eyes on the end-goal the entire time.

#1 Getting involved in the stock market

Sure, you’ve probably seen your share of index funds and passive stock saving by now but what if you could start to get involved in the stock market for real? It’s actually not that difficult at all and you will, after all, have a lot more control than when you’re simply leaning back and allowing the stockbroker to handle everything for you.

Start investing in stocks actively, for example, and learn the ins and outs of the market once and for all. Not only will you have a brand new hobby and passive income but you might even be able to make some serious money as long as you stay up to date on how the market is doing.

While the experts do advise you not to attempt timing the market in terms of when to buy and when to sell, it’s still a good idea to read up on how the global and the national economy is doing before you dive into it, head first. It has been a rather twitchy start to the new year, after all, and those who decided to buy when it was low may make a fortune as soon as it goes back up – and vice versa.

Instead of driving yourself crazy by speculating and timing the market, it’s better to work out a plan for yourself and your personal finances which you’re able to stick to. Start small, by buying just a few stocks and let the machine do all the work; as soon as it has increased by 5%, for example, it should sell automatically.

That way, you won’t be staying put when it has increased this much and can avoid kicking yourself when you see it drop the following morning. The experts’ advice is quite clear on this one: have a plan, stick to it, and ride out the dips if you’re already in it.

Just like investing in stocks can be a bit of a gamble, investing in the real estate market can also be a risky choice – and especially if you’re doing it for the sake of the investment and not to own a home.

Investment properties are all the rage lately and those who have successfully juggled all of their other financial milestones by now will often find themselves as landlords a bit down the road. It’s a sweet deal, after all, as you can just sit back and wait for the rent to tick into your bank account each month.

One thing that might bring you a bit more bang for your bucks is to invest in properties abroad rather than here at home. Not only will they often be a bit cheaper but you can make some serious money once the high-season is back and all of those tourists start to fill up the beach again.

The only problems with this are, first of all, that you need to invest in a country that both make the purchasing process a bit easier – and one that allows foreigners to rent out the property they buy. This is quite easy to sort out with a few quick Google searches, though, but you can have a look at resale HDB portal as well for some properties that are both easy to buy and simple to rent out again when it’s officially yours.

Keep in mind, however, that your dream of becoming a landlord may be soured unless you find the best kind of tenants to look after it. Stick with a real estate agent to make it as easy and pleasant as possible.

#3 Start your own business

You know what they say: If you want to become seriously rich, you can’t be working for somebody else. Starting your own business is definitely a risky choice but, just like with everything else on this list, it’s the risky investments that tend to make a lot of money.

By starting a business when you already have decades of both work experience and experience with life, in general, you’ll already have an advantage over those graduates who are trying the same on a whim. The startup funds are already there, you might have a network of both clients and contacts already, and all you need is a decent business plan and a few people to help you out.

The latter is particularly important. Way too many entrepreneurs rob their startups of success during the first year as they’re trying so hard to do everything themselves. Succumb to the knowledge and experience of others instead, ask someone to partner up with you, or just hire a few great minds to get your business started as soon as you can.

It will definitely make the journey as an entrepreneur a lot easier – and, who knows, you might even be able to quit your day job after a while and go full-time as a business owner.